Marriage To Russian Living In the USA

[Sergi9 110]

Thanks everyone for your replies. We really have no intention for her to leave. I just wanted to know what would happen if we married and then tried to get her legal from within the USA not abroad. Would she be refused on her AOS because of this overstay?

The overstay should not effect her AOS , unless she has already been placed in proceedings. In other words you need to check to make sure she has not gotten any correspondence from Immigration folks. What type of VISA did she enter on?

[BrandonLG 0]

J1 and B2 are ok. As Blake said, make sure her J1 didn't have a two-year home residency requirement. If it did then she needs to either fulfill that requirement (go back to her home country for at least two years) or get the requirement waived before she can apply for a green card. The home residency requirement doesn't go away by changing to a different non-immigrant visa category.

I asked her to check on her J1 visa and she said it's marked, "Not subject to 2-year residence requirement" That's a very good thing I assume

[BrandonLG 0]

The overstay should not effect her AOS , unless she has already been placed in proceedings. In other words you need to check to make sure she has not gotten any correspondence from Immigration folks. What type of VISA did she enter on?

I'll ask her if she's gotten any correspondence. She came on a J1 Visa.

[BrandonLG 0]

I'll ask her if she's gotten any correspondence. She came on a J1 Visa.

She said there's been no correspondence

[Little_My 463]

Remember to check that her J1 visa does not have a 2-year home residence requirement. It should say something like "home residence requirement does not apply" etc. on her visa.

Edited March 27, 2011 by Mrs.Finland-USA

[Dakine10 5,452]

I asked her to check on her J1 visa and she said it's marked, "Not subject to 2-year residence requirement" That's a very good thing I assume

That's is a good thing. I assumed she was NOT subject to the home residence requirement based on the fact that she changed status to the B2.

If the J1 had a home residency requirement she would not have been able to change status to the visitors visa (without a waiver of that requirement) or adjust status. The fact that she changed status already was a good indication that she was not subject to the requirement.

[tehans 52]

I wish the best of luck to you, but I must say I am a little angry that I must be apart from my wife for such a long time when we follow the rules. We should have just broken the rules I suppose

[james&olya 1,121]

I wish the best of luck to you, but I must say I am a little angry that I must be apart from my wife for such a long time when we follow the rules. We should have just broken the rules I suppose

How is this relevant to the OP's situation? 'They' are not breaking rules! She is here on an overstay but their relationship followed this. They are not sneaking around ahead of you somehow. I suppose it might be relevant if you were trying to get a J1 or B2 visa and had trouble due to the history of overstays causing their issuance to be restricted. Otherwise you are comparing apples and oranges!

[BrandonLG 0]

I wish the best of luck to you, but I must say I am a little angry that I must be apart from my wife for such a long time when we follow the rules. We should have just broken the rules I suppose

I'm very sorry for you that you must be away from your wife. I feel very fortunate that the girl I found is in the USA already. I have read of many people here who must wait long months to be with the people they love and I am angry at this system right along with you, my friend. I can completely sympathize with your situation.

Thanks to everyone for the help and advice

Edited March 28, 2011 by BrandonLG

[juliava 80]

The AOS application also gives you the opportunity to apply for Advance Parole/AP for traveling outside US while AOS is pending. I advise you to NOT fall for that and waste your time applying for it, as your spouse has a significant overstay. Don't get me wrong, the AP will probably get approved inside US but if she uses it to go back to Russia for a quick family surprise visit, her entry back in US will probably get denied due to that overstaying issue. I know how hard it is to be away from home for such a long time, but do NOT have her leave US under any circumstances unless she has her Green Card in her hand. I also came here on a J-1 visa, changed status into B-2, overstayed for 3 years after that but after all I had no problem getting my AOS approved.

Edited March 28, 2011 by juliava

[BrandonLG 0]

The AOS application also gives you the opportunity to apply for Advance Parole/AP for traveling outside US while AOS is pending. I advise you to NOT fall for that and waste your time applying for it, as your spouse has a significant overstay. Don't get me wrong, the AP will probably get approved inside US but if she uses it to go back to Russia for a quick family surprise visit, her entry back in US will probably get denied due to that overstaying issue. I know how hard it is to be away from home for such a long time, but do NOT have her leave US under any circumstances unless she has her Green Card in her hand. I also came here on a J-1 visa, changed status into B-2, overstayed for 3 years after that but after all I had no problem getting my AOS approved.

Sounds like your situation is identical to hers. Did you adjust status based on marriage?

[juliava 80]

Sounds like your situation is identical to hers. Did you adjust status based on marriage?

Yes, the AOS got approved almost 1 year ago.

[BrandonLG 0]

Yes, the AOS got approved almost 1 year ago.

Congrats! I hope all goes as well for us as it did for you